Rail mounting assembly

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to a rail mounting assembly for use on concrete ties including an electrical insulating, sound deadening, vibration damping, rubber tie pad having positioning openings therein to positively locate the pad on a concrete tie and beads formed thereon to prevent slippage of the tie pad on the tie. The assembly also includes rubber rail fastener pads to electrically isolate the metal rail fastener from the rail and to prevent slippage of the rail.

D United States Patent 1111 [72] Inventor Edward F. Kirik 1,627,217 5/1927 Wells 238/283 Fairfield. Conn. 2,996,256 8/1961 Moses 238/283 1 1 pp 769,967 FOREIGN PATENTS 1221 Fled (M31968 1,167,520 8/1958 France 238/349 [45] Patented June 1,1971 Assignee symex Rubber Corporation 1,191,514 4/1959 France 238/349 Bridgeport Conn 1,189,104 3/1965 Germany 238/283 724,388 2/1965 Great Britain 238/283 942,258 11/1963 Great Britain .1 238/283 1 1 RAIL MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point U Claims, 9 Drawing 8 Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Bertsch 52 us. C1 238/283, mwmekwooster Davis & Cifelli 238/287, 238/349, 238/373 [51] lnt.Cl E0lb9/40,

E011) 9/14, E011) ABSTRACT: This disclosure relates to a rail mounting as- 1 1 Field of Search 238/349, sembly for use on concrete ties including an electrical insulat- 283 ing, sound deadening, vibration damping, rubber tie pad havin ositionin o enin s therein to ositivel locate the ad on [56] References and a o zicrete tie an bea s formed thdi'eon to prevent slipgage of UNITED STATES PATENTS the tie pad on the tie. The assembly also includes rubber rail 3,223,328 12/1965 Moses et a1. 238/349 fastener pads to electrically isolate the metal rail fastener from 1,1 19,776 12/1914 Bojkin 238/283 the rail and to prevent slippage of the rail.

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RAIL MOUNTING ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a rail mounting assembly and, more particularly, to mounting pads for use in securing a rail on concrete ties.

The rails of a railway are supported by crossties which maintain the gauge between rails and transmit the wheel load to the ballast in which the ties are embedded. In the past, some limited use has been made of concrete and steel substitutes for wooden ties, but for years creosote impregnated wooden ties have been standard practice in the United States. The low cost of the impregnated wooden tie, combined with certain advantages that the wooden tie possesses, such as the easy method of fastening rails by driving spikes, its freedom from corrosion, and its electrical insulating property, have given the wooden tie a very pronounced advantage over substitutes. However, in recent years, great numbers of railway rapid transit systems have been built to serve urban areas and the use of suitable timber to supply the ever increasing requirements for wooden ties has decreased because it is becoming scarcer and ever more expensive.

Thus, concrete ties are being used in most of the newer rail systems. It should be apparent that the concrete ties do not have the same advantages as the wooden ties, primarily their vibration damping characteristics and electrical insulating properties. Furthermore, since in electrical railways the rail forms a path for high frequency electrical control circuits used in automatic block signalling, it is imperative that the rail be insulated from the electrically conductive concrete ties. To this end vinyl pads have found some usage as electrical insulators between the rail and the concrete tie; however, pads made of this material have serious disadvantages, such as a tendency to slip and crack, minimal shock absorption properties, and maintenance of compression set. The use of vinyl pads has often resulted in cracked concrete ties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to pro- -vide an improved rubber tie pad which will electrically insulate the rail from the concrete tie; will resist rail slippage; will damp rail vibrations and noise; and is resistant to aging, compression set, atmospheric ozone, oil and water.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rubber rail fastener pad which will assist in electrically isolating the rail, will prevent lateral and longitudinal shift of the rail, and is resistant to aging, compression set, atmospheric ozone, oil and water.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rail mounting assembly including a tie pad and a rail fastener pad as set forth in the above two paragraphs.

To accomplish the primary object, in one form a rail mounting tie pad is provided which comprises a rail support element made of an elastomeric, electrically insulating, vibration damping material having spaced positioning means for preventing shifting of the tie pad on the concrete tie.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and further details of that which I believe to be novel and my invention will be clear from the following description and claims taken with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the improved rail mounting assembly constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the improved tie pad constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the tie pad of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view similar to that of FIG. 3, showing an alternative form of the bead arrangement;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 2, relating to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the tie pad of FIG. 2 shown mounted upon the concrete tie in an alternate manner;

FIG. 7 is a bottom perspective view of another form of the DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning now to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. I a portion ofa concrete tie 10 which may be placed upon a suitable ballast (not shown) and in which suitable tubular inserts 12 having tapped bores 13 are embedded. Rail fastening bolts 14 may be threadedly engaged in the tapped bores 13. A tie pad 16 having sockets 18 defined in its ends is placed atop the tie 10, being positioned so that the sockets 18 are in alignment with the inserts 12. A steel rail 20 is mounted upon the tie pad 16 and is held in place by the bolt-retained generally U-shaped rail fasteners 22 having rail fastener pads 24 mounted upon their rail contacting ends so as to be completely insulated from the concrete tie 10.

One form of the novel tie pad 16 is more fully disclosed with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5. It is made of an elastomeric composition, such as rubber, selected for its resistance to aging in air, resistance to atmospheric ozone, resistance to oil and water, and resistance to compression set. The tie pad includes a generally planar portion 26 having upstanding frustoconical bosses 28 at its ends, each boss having a socket 18 passing therethrough. A plurality of beads 30 are formed upon the upper surface of the pad and a plurality of beads 32 are formed upon the lower surface of the tie pad (note FIG. 3).

As illustrated in FIG. 4, beads 32 may be formed upon the lower surface of the tie pad in the same direction as upon the upper surface thereof. It should be apparent that the beads formed upon the upper and lower surfaces of the planar portion 26 of the tie pad 16 may run in the same direction or in different directions. The tie pad 16 may even be formed without beads upon its planar portion 26; however, I have found that the beads impart superior vibration damping, sound damping and antislip characteristics to the tie pad. When the beads on the upper and lower surfaces 30 and 32 are formed perpendicular to one another (note FIGS. 2 and 3), a gridlike pattern of tiny air pockets will be present on both surfaces to aid in sound damping. Alternatively, when the beads 30 and 32 are formed in the same direction (note FIGS. 2, 4 and 5) it should be noted that the beads are preferably offset to create a plurality of small air channels on the upper and .lower surfaces to aid in sound damping.

It should be noted with reference to FIG. 6 that the tie pad 1.6 is mounted upon the concrete tie 10 in a manner reverse to that shown in FIG. 1. In this position the bosses 28 are directed downwardly into recesses 34 provided therefor in the concrete tie. Thus, the tie pad is positively positioned against slippage upon the tie. Assembly of the rail mounting unit is simplified by positioning the tie pad against shifting in this manner because it is unnecessary to take pains to align the bores 18 of the bosses 28 with the tapped bores 13 of the embedded inserts 12.

Turning to FIGS. 7 and 8 there is illustrated an alternative embodiment of the tie pad which I have designated by the numeral 36. This tie pad is made of the same material as the tie pad 16 and is generally of the same shape, including a planar portion 38 with bosses 40 extending normal to one of its faces at opposite ends thereof. Each boss 40 defines a central bore 42. The upper and lower planar surfaces of planar portion 38 may be beaded as shown at 44 in a manner, and for purposes, fully set forth above.

Several shock absorbing positioning feet 46 are integrally formed upon one face of the tie pad being disposed so as to be located beneath the rail 20 (note FIG. 8). They may be disposed upon the same face as the bosses 40 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Each foot is formed with a recess 48 at its end so as to enable the foot to be axially deformed when placed under load.

When this embodiment of the tie pad is used the concrete tie is provided with sockets 50 to receive the feet 46.

Each socket is of a depth slightly smaller than the height of 5 and has a slightly larger cross section than that of the received foot 46 (note FIG. 8), so that the weight of the rail will cause the foot to deform axially and radially. The deformed feet act as shock absorbers effectively preventing rail vibration from being transmitted to the concrete tie. Furthermore, the feet when deformed under load will exert an upward spring force on the rail 20 which will maintain the rail in tight engagement with the rail fasteners 22.

As clearly illustrated in FIG. 1, each rail fastener 22 comprises a generally U-shaped steel member having an offset bearing portion 52 which rests upon the concrete tie 10. The rail fastener includes a lower leg 54 and a longer upper leg 56 terminating in an upturned lip 58 which clamps the rail base 60. Aligned openings 62 and 64 which are defined through the lower and upper legs 54 and 56, respectively, receive the shank of the rail fastening bolt 14.

The rail fastener pad 24 (shown in FIG. 9) is made of the same or similar elastomeric composition as the tie pad 16. When in use it is mounted upon the rail fastener 22. it includes a planar body portion 66 having a smooth upper surface, and beads 68 formed upon its lower rail engaging surface. Sidewall portions 70 and a generally U-shaped front wall 72 are formed to capture the upper leg 56 ofthe rail fastener. A flange 74 depends from the pad to positively space the end of the lower leg 54 from the rail base 60, and a mounting portion. 76 formed thereon includes several locking wedges 78 on its lower surface. The rail fastener pad 24 may be securely mounted upon the rail fastener 22 by inserting the mounting portion 76 between the upper and lower legs 54 and 56. All the exposed metal portions of the rail fastener 22 which might contact the rail base 60 are isolated therefrom by the electrically insulating pad 24.

The rail fastener 22 with its associated pad 24 is mounted on the rail base 60 with the openings 62 and 64 in the fastener aligned with the bore 18 of the tie pad and the tapped bore 13 of the embedded insert 12. The fastening bolt 14 is then passed through the aligned openings 44, 46, and 18; is threadedly engaged in the tappedbore of the embedded insert 12; and is tightened to draw the upper leg 56 of the rail fastener 22 into tight engagement with the rail base 60. The beads 68 on the rail fastener pad 24 assist in preventing lateral and longitudinal shifting of the rail 20.

It should be apparent to those skilled in this art that l have provided an improved rail mounting assembly for use in mounting rails on concrete ties, including a tie pad upon which the rail may be mounted and a rail fastener pad. The pads are made of rubber for superior vibration absorption and are uniquely constructed with beaded surfaces for superior antislip sound deadening and vibration damping characteristics. Furthermore, the rail is entirely electrically insulated from the concrete tie.

The present disclosure has been made only by way of example, and numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the true spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What I claim is:

l. A rail mounting tie pad made of an elastomeric, electrically insulating, vibration damping material for use with rails secured upon concrete ties, comprising: central rail supporting means having upper and lower surfaces for respectively engaging the rail and tie; a plurality of longitudinal beads formed on said surfaces; and spaced frustoconical boss means for positioning said pad on a tie, said positioning means being integrally formed with said rail supporting means and disposed at opposite ends thereof.

2. The tie pad defined in claim 1 wherein said beads located upon the upper and lower surfaces of said rail supporting means are disposed in the same direction and relatively offset.

3. The tie pad defined in claim 1 wherem sald beads located upon the upper and lower surfaces of said rail supporting means are disposed at substantially right angles relative to one another.

4. The tie pad defined in claim 1 wherein said positioning means includes projecting bosses through which extend openings in said tie pad, located to receive rail securing bolts.

5. The tie pad defined in claim 1 including plural shock absorbing positioning feet located upon one surface of said rail supporting means and formed integrally therewith.

6. A removable rail fastener pad made of an elastomeric, electrically insulating, vibration damping material for use with a generally U-shaped metal rail fastener having spaced upper and lower legs, the upper leg being longer than the lower leg for holding down the rail base, comprising: body means for underlying the extending portion of the upper leg and engaging a rail base; wall means for engaging the greater portion of the side edges of the extending portion to electrically isolate the upper leg from the rail base; means located at one end of said body means for capturing the leading edge of the upper leg; mounting means located at the opposite end of said body means for mounting said fastener pad upon the rail fastener between the upper and lower legs; and means depending from said body means for engaging the leading edge of the lower leg to electrically isolate it from the rail base.

7. The rail fastener pad defined in claim 6 including antislip means disposed upon the rail engaging surface of said body means.

8. The rail fastener pad defined in claim 7, wherein said antislip means includes plural longitudinal beads.

9. The rail fastener pad defined in claim 6 wherein said means located at said opposite end includes a thickened portion of said body having wedge-shaped friction ribs formed on one surface thereof.

10. A rail mounting assembly for use in securing a rail on a concrete tie with generally U-shaped metal rail fasteners having spaced upper and lower legs and engaging a rail base, the upper leg being longer than the lower leg for holding down the rail base, comprising: a rail mounting tie pad made of an elastomeric, electrically insulating, vibration damping material including central rail supporting means and spaced frustoconical positioning means located at opposite ends of said rail supporting means; and a removable fastener pad made of an elastomeric, electrically insulating, vibration damping material including body means for underlying the extending portion of the upper leg, wall means for engaging the greater portion of the side edges of the extending portion to electrically isolate the upper leg from the rail base, means located at one end of said body means for capturing the leading edge of the upper leg, mounting means located at the opposite end of said body means for mounting said fastener pad upon the rail fastener between the upper and lower legs, and means depending from said body means for engaging the leading edge of the lower leg to electrically isolate it from the rail base.

11. The rail mounting assembly defined in claim 10 wherein: antislip means comprising plural longitudinal beads is formed upon the upper and lower surfaces of said rail support element; and antislip means comprising plural longitudinal heads is disposed upon the rail engaging surface of said body means.

zg gy UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,581,990 Dated June L 1971 Inve t E d mard F- Kirik It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 4, line 43; delete "and engaging a rail base".

line 52; insert after "leg" and before -and engaging a rail base--.

see specification; original claim 12, line 13,

as per our amendment of January 23, 1970.

Signed and sealed this 19th day of October 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FIETCIIER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Acting Commissionerof Patfl'lts 

1. A rail mounting tie pad made of an elastomeric, electrically insulating, vibration damping material for use with rails secured upon concrete ties, comprising: central rail supporting means having upper and lower surfaces for respectively engaging the rail and tie; a plurality of longitudinal beads formed on said surfaces; and spaced frustoconical boss means for positioning said pad on a tie, said positioning means being integrally formed with said rail supporting means and disposed at opposite ends thereof.
 2. The tie pad defined in claim 1 wherein said beads located upon the upper and lower surfaces of said rail supporting means are disposed in the same direction and relatively offset.
 3. The tie pad defined in claim 1 wherein said beads located upon the upper and lower surfaces of said rail supporting means are disposed at substantially right angles relative to one another.
 4. The tie pad defined in claim 1 wherein said positioning means includes projecting bosses through which extend openings in said tie pad, located to receive rail securing bolts.
 5. The tie pad defined in claim 1 including plural shock absorbing positioning feet located upon one surface of said rail supporting means and formed integrally therewith.
 6. A removable rail fastener pad made of an elastomeric, electrically insulating, vibration damping material for use with a generally U-shaped metal rail fastener having spaced upper and lower legs, the upper leg being longer than the lower leg for holding down the rail base, comprising: body means for underlying the extending portion of the upper leg and engaging a rail base; wall means for engaging the greater portion of the side edges of the extending portion to electrically isolate the upper leg from the rail base; means located at one end of said body means for capturing the leading edge of the upper leg; mounting means located at the opposite end of said body means for mounting said fastener pad upon the rail fastener between the upper and lower legs; and means depending from said body means for engaging the leading edge of the lower leg to electrically isolate it from the rail base.
 7. The rail fastener pad defined in claim 6 including antislip means disposed upon the rail engaging surface of said body means.
 8. The rail fastener pad defined in claim 7, wherein said antislip means includes plural longitudinal beads.
 9. The rail fastener pad defined in claim 6 wherein said means located at said opposite end includes a thickened portion of said body having wedge-shaped friction ribs formed on one surface thereof.
 10. A rail mounting assembly for use in securing a rail on a concrete tie with generally U-shaped metal rail fasteners having spaced upper and lower legs and engaging a rail base, the upper leg being longer than the lower leg for holding down the rail base, comprising: a rail mounting tie pad made of an elastomeric, electrically insulating, vibration damping material including central rail supporting means and spaced frustoconical positioning means located at opposite ends of said rail supporting means; and a removable fastener pad made of an elastomeric, electrically insulating, vibration damping material including body means for underlying the extending portion of the upper leg, wall means for engaginG the greater portion of the side edges of the extending portion to electrically isolate the upper leg from the rail base, means located at one end of said body means for capturing the leading edge of the upper leg, mounting means located at the opposite end of said body means for mounting said fastener pad upon the rail fastener between the upper and lower legs, and means depending from said body means for engaging the leading edge of the lower leg to electrically isolate it from the rail base.
 11. The rail mounting assembly defined in claim 10 wherein: antislip means comprising plural longitudinal beads is formed upon the upper and lower surfaces of said rail support element; and antislip means comprising plural longitudinal beads is disposed upon the rail engaging surface of said body means. 